Muskie Mojo...
Travis Frank
"Sometimes I got it, sometimes I don't." I know that's not proper english, but quite frankly, I don't care. In my world of muskie fishing, I don't think anything needs to be proper, and when I refer to "The Mojo," nothing else matters. Let me explain.
What is "the mojo?" It's simple. It's an attitude towards the fish that just forces them to bite. Many of my friends call it a horseshoe stuck in my you know what, but i disagree. For me, I hit the water with an attitude that I AM going to catch a muskie. None of that, I'm gonna try crap, or, we'll see how it goes crap either. If you don't have the confidence, you might as well stay home.
I figure muskie fishing is 90% mental and 10% fishing. If you don't have confidence in your bait, presentation, and particular spot, the muskies can almost sense it, and will not bite. Call me crazy, but I've heard other muskie nuts say similar things. It's like there is a vibration that runs through the line that tells the fish not even to follow or grab the bait. But when you do have this confidence on your side, hang on! I like to force this confidence into my clients and guests. I tell them you WILL get bit on this bait, and THERE IS a fish right there. This leaves no doubt in their minds, and for some reason beyond me, it works.
The very minute that I loose that edge and that confidence I might as well leave the lake. The minute I get lazy and stop paying attention to the smallest details, I am useless. The mojo dissapears and so do the fish. Now I know this might sound stupid to many of you, and for others it might be spot on. Regardless, last night was another prime example. I was jacked up all the way home from the office. I hooked the boat up, and met Matt for a repeat of the day before (see below). Once we reached the first spot, I grabbed a bait, tossed it to Matt and literally pointed to a spot that I believed held a muskie. 
On his second cast this fish was in the boat for a quick photo session. Seemed pretty easy...
Fast forward a couple of hours, and it was the exact opposite. My mojo was gone. Matt and I were talking about past life experiences, and listening to the Twins game. Laughing and joking, we pretty much forgot why we were on the water. Sure we were throwing muskie baits, but there really wasn't any point. We were just relaxing on a beautiful night, and the results proved that the muskies could care less about what we were doing out there. The mojo is a state of confidence, a state of mind, and a state of determination. Find your mojo and hang on!
On a side note, I am now in the works on planning a Minnesota governors fishing opener. A dream that may come true for the 2010 or 2011 fishing season. I have been in contact with the state, and yesterday I met with my home town Chamber from Waconia to discuss this. So far, so good. If this pans out, I stand a chance along with my local peers at taking the governor out fishing for the opener. There are still tons of details that I can elaborate on later, but I can now say that it is in the works. I just think it would be cool 30 or 40 years from now to look back and say I took the Gov fishing on opening day. From the mojo filled muskie waters, keep on livin' the dream!